PHILADELPHIA — It’s no secret Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke can pitch.
The 31-year-old owns baseball’s best ERA at 1.71 and is the clear frontrunner for the National League Cy Young award.
But Thursday was a reminder that he can swing the lumber, too.
As he endured his worst start of the season, allowing a season-high six runs, Greinke redeemed himself at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a homer and three runs scored to help the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-8.
“Today I was really mad after that first inning, so more motivation to try and get some hits,” Greinke said. “Usually I just try to focus on pitching, but we were down by some runs so I needed to put some good at-bats out there today.”
The Dodgers needed runs because Greinke, who had allowed five runs in a start just once this season, surrendered five in the first inning to the Phillies. In his previous eight starts, he had allowed just four runs over 58 2/3 innings, including eight innings of one-hit ball against the Phillies on July 9.
So Greinke took matters into his own hands at the plate.
“He can swing the bat, that’s for sure,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
In fact, Greinke has five career homers. He even hit .328 in 2013 with Los Angeles.
Sometimes, he even wonders if he could have made the big leagues as a position player. But now, his focus his pitching, and why not? He’s become one of the best in the game.
“I don’t think about it anymore, I used to think about it,” Greinke said. “Maybe, but (hitting is) not that easy at the same time.”
And sometimes an old reminder helps, too.
“You know what, I looked at my high school video and my swing’s not as good as I thought it was,” Greinke said. “My confidence then was good enough to make it to the majors, but my swing wasn’t as good as I remembered.”